Disney Cuts Transgender Storyline From Kids Show
Disney-owned Pixar’s original series Win or Lose will no longer feature a storyline that included a character’s trans experience in an upcoming episode, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A Disney spokesperson told the outlet, “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.” A source close to the show told THR that the decision to remove the gender-identity arc from one of the characters' story was made months ago.
Win or Lose follows the off-the-field lives of middle schoolers playing on a co-ed softball team. As the series offers the perspective of a different character each episode, an upcoming character’s plotline would have contained dialogue referencing their gender identity. The outlet reports that there were only a “few” lines removed to make the change, and the character isn’t being cut.
The news of the change comes just as Disney-owned ABC has settled the defamation lawsuit brought against the outlet for George Stephanopoulos’ repeated on-air comments that Donald Trump was found “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. A federal jury found Trump liable for both defamation and “sexually abusing” Carroll, but not “rape.”
The network has been chastised for not fighting the suit and setting an “awful precedent” for journalists’ ability to hold power to account. Stephanopoulos was forced to deliver an on-air apology to Trump and ABC donated $15 million to his presidential library as part of the deal.
Two years ago, Pixar faced blowback from conservatives over a fleeting same-sex kiss in its Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear. That same year, Disney took heat from the left for initially remaining silent on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay bill.
